Rich People, Poor Environment
I wrote this article yesterday in 15 minutes flat. Got the inspiration from reading a book by Donal Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.
Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” remembers this quote from his own dad:
“A lot of rich people live in a poor environment”
For the purpose of this article, let’s restrict the definition of “poor” to the financial sense.
Here’s how he explains the effects of our surrounding environment hampers our quest to become rich, even though we have a strong desire, the drive and the mindset.
Your Childhood
Robert was born poor. That is not to say that his family was not a happy family, but it is a family that values frugality and hard work above all else. Wanting to be rich was something of a taboo because the rich were scorned upon by his family.
Investment was a big gamble at the time, something that they cannot risk with the limited income that they had.
Having said that, how then can a person who has had to live within his means overcome that?
The way is to look think of things from a different angle. Instead of thinking of how you can stretch your income to accommodate additional expenses, think of how you can generate more income to cover those expenses.
You have probably seen girls taking up babysitting jobs to buy a new dress or young kids setting up a lemonade stand on the street corner to make more money for new toys. That’s enterprising spirit at the most basic level.
Your Work Environment
A lot of people probably feel like they are trapped in a dead end job, yet they can’t just quit because they have a lot of financial commitments that depend on their meager earnings.
The first thing you have look at is if the company you work for is committed to making itself richer or making the people who work for it richer?
Does the company you work for encourage education for its people so that they can advance higher and take on more responsibility or do they prefer people who are contented with where they are and have no ambition to advance in their careers?
An Environment Full Of People Who Are Afraid Of Losing
A lot of people fear losing, especially when it comes to money. They may take risks when it comes to their love lives, their family, their friends, but when it comes to money, it is a zealously guarded asset that they take absolutely no chances with.
This is the employee mentality where job security and a steady pay check each month is the norm.
Create Your Own Winning Environment
Money don’t grow on trees but they are just like one. They need an environment where they can grow in, in order to multiply.
A tree needs water, sunlight and fertilizer to grow. If you want to grow your money, you also have to give it a suitable environment.
The first thing you need to do is to get rid of the people in your life who are negative financially. Hang around with people who are driven to make more money for themselves and not the budgeting wizards who are able to balance their income and expenses each month based on their pay check.
You might also want to consider getting yourself educated about money. Maybe you can learn about investing or take up multi level marketing. If investment is not a topic for you, look around your own environment to see if there are other ways you can make additional income.
Not all of us are Robert Kiyosakis, therefore it is understandable that investment or real estate is not our cup of tea. But there are other ways you can make money with what you already know and a little creativity will help.
One last question that Robert Kiyosaki asks – if you do find yourself in the right environment, are you willing to work hard to be rich?
An environment is just part of the trimmings. You are the main course. If you want to be rich, you have to do your homework.
